With alarming new job-loss and unemployment numbers published just the week before, one might have expected doom and gloom hovering over the Cobble Hill Association’s Fall 2009 General Membership Meeting, held on November 9 in the LICH conference center. After all, announcements for the meeting advertised a panel discussion focused on “Surviving the Economic Downturn in Cobble Hill.” What the audience heard instead, however, was a rather upbeat message about our little corner of the world.
By mid-November, the days of leisurely park-bench lunches and swinging Thursday night summer concerts are just fond memories. But recent events in Cobble Hill Park at Clinton and Congress streets indicate that the neighborhood’s jewel in the crown is really a park for all seasons.
Before parading through the streets of Cobble Hill in full Halloween regalia for the 15th Annual Cobble Hill Costume Parade, local kids and adults alike gathered in the park on October 31, so
Fait accompli! On Monday, October 26, the City Council voted unanimously in favor of the Department of City Planning’s Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street Waterfront District Contextual Rezoning proposal. The Council vote is the final step in the mandated ULURP review process. The idea behind the push to change the rules is to install “preservation rezoning,” explains City Planning, so that future development will match the existing “built character” of the community. In essence, the new laws change the zoning
It’s on all of our minds, so why not meet and discuss it. And, indeed, we will. The focus of the Cobble Hill Association Fall General Membership meeting is “Surviving the Economic Downturn in Cobble Hill.” The meeting notice observes that many in the neighborhood work — or worked — in the hard-hit areas of finance, media, and law. It is no surprise, then, that the impact on these industries has filtered down to local restaurants, real estate,
By Trudy Whitman
The directive in the press release asked invitees to “Please arrive with an appetite!!” A piece of cake for this guest. But, to stretch the food metaphor a little farther, I couldn’t help but recall how last week’s unveiling of the Culinary Arts Classroom at the High School for International Studies on Baltic and Court streets had its roots in events that occurred over 20 years ago. That’s when people came together to devise a plan to turn {read more...}
Shake out those wigs and ferret out those fake fingers — Halloween is just around the corner — the corner of Clinton and Congress in Cobble Hill Park! If you’re new to the hood, the Cobble Hill Park Halloween Parade is a sight to behold. Last year the event attracted over 1,000 kids and their grownups. Since October 31 falls on a Saturday this year, event organizers expect an even larger crowd.
A little over a year ago illustrator and animator Jen Hill was on the subway doing what she frequently does when taking mass transit — unobtrusively sketching fellow passengers. This time, however, one of her subjects noticed what she was doing and approached her as they both exited the train at the same station. Charles Giraudet was neither angry nor annoyed by Jen Hill’s decision to use him as an unsuspecting model. In fact, the architect produced his
With officers and staff of the 76th leading the way, our local police precinct is proud to report that it helped collect 47 pints of blood in a drive at headquarters on Union Street on September 18. The donated blood will benefit the New York Blood Center. It’s apparent that New York’s Finest help save lives in a variety of ways — each pint of blood collected can save three. Kudos to Captain Corey and his crew!
It’s not as bad as some think was the message delivered by Vincent Mazzone, president of the Court Street Merchants Association, regarding the commercial vacancy rate of one of the Hills & Gardens’ primary shopping streets. Mazzone added that there are always vacancies on the strip, but after studying commercial properties from Atlantic to Hamilton avenues, the association reports that there has not been a significant increase of empty storefronts since the recession hit. In fact Mazzone added,
Cobble Hillers returned from vacation to the news that Cobble Hill Association president Jeff Strabone has resigned from his position because of a postdoctoral fellowship he was awarded at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
“I have kept my resignation somewhat low-profile because I did not want to be a distraction from important issues,” Strabone responded to an email inquiry. He added that he fully intends to return to Brooklyn after the academic year.
Something of a donnybrook is brewing among Carroll Gardens neighbors regarding the proposed Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal and its environs. You will recall that this past spring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed placing the area on its National Priorities List for a comprehensive evaluation and cleanup. Mayor Bloomberg had other ideas, believing that the remediation of the infamous canal could be undertaken faster, more efficiently, and to the same standards through a Superfund Alternative Approach.
Somewhere in between the news that New York City developers are abandoning half-built projects or selling at considerable loss, and the news that the asking price for a particular DUMBO condo is $25 million, are two holes in
It is common knowledge that Brooklyn is underserved in terms of green space. Boerum Hill, in particular, lacks fields, playgrounds, and passive pocket parks. In 2005, with funds from a grant from the JM Kaplan Fund, the Boerum Hill Association (BHA) engaged a consultant to initiate a search for green space in the downtown Brooklyn area. The consultant identified Thomas Greene Park at Third Avenue between Douglass and DeGraw streets as an underutilized space that had not been updated in decades. The park abuts the DD Pool, an amenity lauded by the cognoscenti as one of Brooklyn’s best-kept
Howard Kolins, the brand-new president of the Boerum Hill Association, jokes that he first became involved in the life of his community when he was “hoodwinked into lending my garage to the Hoyt Street Association Plant Sale by a very clever Margaret Cusack.” Cusack, the quintessential community activist, recognized a sucker when she
In the What a Great Idea! Department, the 76th Precinct’s commanding officer, Capt. Kenneth Corey, has begun to send monthly email updates to all residents who request the service and forward email addresses to the precinct. The first edition, penned by the captain himself, was published on this page shortly after the July 4th {read more...}
